We’re down to the final two weeks of the inaugural UFL season, and the only thing left to determine is who will be hosting the XFL Conference Championship game in two weeks.
Play gets underway for Week 9 on Saturday with one game in Arlington, TX and one in San Antonio. Then it will conclude on Sunday with one game in Memphis, TN and one in Houston.
Check out my UFL betting picks and predictions for Week 9.
UFL picks for Week 9
Picks made on 5/24 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
Week 9 UFL odds and predictions
St. Louis Battlehawks vs Arlington Renegades
Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
| Battlehawks | Renegades | |
|---|---|---|
| -3 (-108) | Spread | +3 (-112) |
| -175 | Moneyline | +145 |
| Over 46 (-110) | Total | Under 46 (-110) |
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of 5-24.
These two teams met all the way back in Week 2 when the St. Louis Battlehawks snuck out a home win, 27-24, on a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Arlington Renegades struggled mightily to stop the Battlehawks offense, but they did have Mataeo Durant run for 104 yards on 14 carries and he is out for this contest.
The Battlehawks need to keep winning to hold onto the lead in the XFL Conference over the San Antonio Brahmas, and they will get back A.J. McCarron at quarterback after he missed last week’s win over the DC Defenders. Despite being 1-7, the Renegades only have a -20 point differential on the season and have been competitive in almost every game.
While I do believe the Battlehawks will take care of business to assure they can stay atop the XFL Conference, this game is almost surely going to come down to the wire and I don’t want to take a road favorite in an expected close game. Instead, I will take the Over, as the Battlehawks defense has struggled two weeks in a row and allowed 24 points at home to this same Arlington team earlier this season.
Pick: Over 46 (-110 at FanDuel)
Birmingham Stallions vs San Antonio Brahmas
Saturday, 3:00 p.m. ET, ABC
| Stallions | Brahmas | |
|---|---|---|
| -8.5 (-110) | Spread | +8.5 (-110) |
| -440 | Moneyline | +340 |
| Over 44 (-110) | Total | Under 44 (-110) |
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of 5-24.
This will be the first time these two teams face each other and if St. Louis wins earlier in the day, it will be a must-win for the Brahmas to remain in the hunt to host the XFL Conference Championship game. Meanwhile, the Birmingham Stallions are looking to continue their undefeated season.
Adrian Martinez has been incredible at quarterback for the Stallions and continues to light up the scoreboard week in and week out. However, the Birmingham defense has been a little lax the past few weeks, allowing 25 points per game over the last three contests. Now they face the Brahmas, who have the third-most yards of total offense in the UFL.
I am tempted to take the Brahmas to cover a huge spread at home in an important game to their playoff seeding. However, the Stallions can score in bunches, and I do not want to get beat on a late touchdown in a high-scoring game that was close throughout. Instead, I will roll with another Over with the Stallions’ ability to reach 30 like they have in every game since Week 4.
Pick: Over 44 (-110 at FanDuel)
DC Defenders vs Memphis Showboats
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX
| Defenders | Showboats | |
|---|---|---|
| -5 (-110) | Spread | +5 (-110) |
| -238 | Moneyline | +195 |
| Over 45.5 (-110) | Total | Under 45.5 (-110) |
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of 5-24.
This is the first matchup of the season between these two teams and will be played simply for pride, as both teams are eliminated from playoff contention. The Memphis Showboats finally showed a little bit of life last week, staying competitive with the Michigan Panthers before ultimately losing 24-18 on the road. It was the first game since Week 2 that the Showboats did not lose by double-digits.
Memphis lost quarterback Case Cookus to injury in their last game and will now be turning the team over to Josh Love. The Defenders played competitively last week against a Battlehawks team still playing for a conference title – although they were without McCarron. Both teams rank in the Bottom 3 of both total offense and total defense this season.
This is the only game this week that involves two eliminated teams and the only other game this season that met that criteria was a 47-23 Renegades win over these Showboats two weeks ago. With their backup quarterback and a terrible defense, I will roll with the Defenders to win by more than five points – a spread that the Showboats have only covered twice all year (Weeks 1 and 2).
Pick: Defenders -5 (-110 at FanDuel)
Michigan Panthers vs Houston Roughnecks
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, FOX
| Panthers | Roughnecks | |
|---|---|---|
| -4 (-110) | Spread | +4 (-110) |
| -192 | Moneyline | +160 |
| Over 40 (-110) | Total | Under 40 (-110) |
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of 5-24.
These two teams met back in Week 3 in Detroit and the Panthers won 34-20 in a game which quarterback E.J. Perry dominated. However, they do not have Perry anymore and even backup Danny Etling may not be the guy. The Panthers went with a two-quarterback system last week with a rotation between Brian Lewerke and Bryce Perkins. They may continue to experiment to find their best offense before their USFL Conference Championship game in Birmingham in two weeks.
The Houston Roughnecks have the worst offense in the league, but they did manage to score 28 points last week against Birmingham. They also played a two-quarterback system, rotating Reid Sinnett and Nolan Henderson before riding the hot hand of Sinnett late. I expect a similar game plan this week since they have nothing to play for except pride and maybe building a roster for next season.
This is the hardest game of the week to handicap with both teams experimenting at quarterback and testing out new things for different reasons. However, this total is just way too low considering there were 54 points scored last time they met, and each team is coming off a game total of more than 40 points last week under similar circumstances.
Pick: Over 40 (-110 at FanDuel)
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